He's still the king of Sonoma, thanks to his five Sprint Cup wins there, but Jeff Gordon wanted to clear up one thing this week.

He considers this one of his home territories, even though his family moved from Vallejo to Indiana when he was a teenager. But is Sonoma Raceway really his home track?

"It's the closest track to my home," he said this past week. "A lot of my family is still here. But I never saw this racetrack until 1993, when I ran my first Cup race. I drove by it, I knew of it. It's hard to say it's my home track, but this is home for me."

Gordon, a four-time Sprint Cup champion, is riding high at age 42. He's leading the point standings and has 11 top-10 finishes through 15 races.

"We've had one of the best starts to a season that I can remember every having," he said. "We know we need to get to victory lane a few more times, and I think we're capable of doing that."

He probably gives Hendrick Motorsports its best chance to extend its five-race winning streak since he has a record nine career wins on road courses. A sixth straight Hendrick win would tie a modern-era record for a team.

Gordon started the streak with his win at Kansas. Then Jimmie Johnson won at Charlotte and Dover, Dale Earnhardt Jr. at Pocono and Johnson again at Michigan. Hendrick set the record in 2007, when Gordon won two straight after four consecutive wins by Johnson.

He has been struggling with a back problem since the Charlotte race a month ago.

Gordon placed only 15th in Saturday's qualifying. He didn't make it into the 12-car second session.

"It's disappointing," Gordon said. "The biggest disappointment is how many guys improved their second time out, and we didn't."